Hi All:

Just got my car out last weekend (a 68 convt.) with the new 383 (443 hp 476 lbs of torque) after many months on jack stands. I also installed the adjustable front mono fiberglass spring and rear adjsutable glass spring with Bilstein sport shocks. All from Vette Brake Products. I have the height around stock at 27.5 at the apex of the fender wells. I am on the softer settings one bolt hole in from inermost hole. I am getting some very slight rubbing of the exhaust right where the pipes (2 1/2 inchers) make the Y bend for the mufflers. The point where they are rubbing the ground under hard driving is around 2 inches off the ground. It is not bad and the roads around my house are very bumpy. I would like to get it lower just because it looks so damn cool. I am thinking of firming the suspension up by moving out my mounting bolts. I'd love to get it to 26.5 to 27. The ride is terrific (I highly recomend the VBP conversions) so I am willing to go stiffer. Anybody done the tweaking in this? Any thoughts that can save me some trail and error?

Many thanks

Jim

 

Could you measure your road clearance from the fame rails? For instance, what is the clearance of the frame at the #3 frame//body mounting point? This point is essentially the frame rail clearance behind the driver's seat just before the frame arches up for the rear wheel.

Or maybe how many inches of clearance do you have from the bottom of the frame to the ground underneath the door hindge. (This is the #2 mount location.)

I'd like to compare heights with my 68 Vert except that now it's up in the air and its too late at night to drop it down on the wheels,

I have the VBP 10 inch bolts (composite spring to trailing arm) and when I did have the car on the wheels, the rear end was about a little higher above the ground than a snakes belly. ...Well actually, just guessing, it was about 4 inches. Tomorrow, I won't have to guess, I can measure it.

I used to have a 69 BB with Hooker headers and sidepipes. My road clearance problem occurred at mid-point where the transmission crossmember was. I only had 4 1/4 inches of road clearance there. This caused a problem with speed bumps where they would hit the sidepipes. It was the sidepipes that were only 4 1/4 inches above the ground.

My road clearance problems on my 68 will also occur at midframe since I have the 69 factory sidepipes on the car. If I keep my VBP 10 inch bolts, I'm going to have a real problem with speed bumps.

 

I'll check out the frame hieghts tonight and post back. Gary at VBP suggested trimming the spring bolts to me once the clearance was figured out. Don't know if that might work for you.

Thanks - I'll be back to you.

Jim

 

I was just about to order the VBP performance plus package with front and rear monospring and the Hooker headers with 4" sidepipes for my 68 454 convertible....gonna hold off and see how you guys fair out. I have done a lot of research on both products and you have to be careful with the rear monospring bolts to the TA's. If you want to restore stock ride height you have to use the full 10" on those bolts but sometime this puts the end of the bolt and spring very close to your tires. I have read a number of stories on the forum about guys tearing their sidewalls on this bolt when they get on the throttle b/c the tires will widen with gravity when you increase the revolutions. Some solutions have been to tighten up that bolt and rear spring and then cut the excess bolt off. Most members tighten it up to where the bolt is at the rim level...but this will raise your right height...sometime way to much. I spoke to VBP about this and they said they never hear of it which I find hard to beleive since its a very dangerous problem. I would assume that by using the 8 adjustments and making it more stiffer on both the front and rear that the ride height would increase and you would have more ground clearance but your cars center of gravity will be further from the ground and cornering may be affected not to mention your wheel wells make look a bit odd.
Please let me know what you do and what works so I can try to avoid some headaches. Good luck, call VBP, they seem very helpful in all my inquires. I'm actually going with the offset TA's to avoid the rear wheel problem but the sidepipes worry me as roads around me are not friendly.
Good luck guys, PM me and let me know how things turned out.

 

68 verts gotta stick together...hehe

 

The stiffer the front spring goes the higher the car goes. Im pretty sure this is how the vbandp front set up is.

 

The #3 spot looks like 6 inches. I also measured the lowest point of the center cross rail (by the driver side door) and it looks about 4 inches.

Again, I am not bottoming and the lowest point of the entire car is the exhaust towards the back. I plan in playing with it and tweeking it this weekend (wifey poo is out of town) just looking to see if someone has
done the leg work on this.

Many thanks for any input.

Jim

 

Update? how'd everything go?

 

Wifey-poo was going to vist friends on saturday which was supposed to leave me in the clear to do "my thing" (ie. work on my Vette). She hit me with the "it would be really nice if you went with me" yesterday morning. Just got back this morning around 11:30 so it looks like later today but likely next weekend to play with the car. Stay tuned.

Jim

 

in my opinion i would recomend going with jet-hot hooker side pipes and that way you can set the car as low as you want. BTW i am running the same suspension and i have mine set to the stifist setting only because i like a rougher ride in a sports car. i am at 25.5 in the front and i want to go lower to maybe 24.5

 

here she is with side pipes


better shot from the side

 

You want to go 24.5 inches from the fender lip to the ground? How are you guys running that low. I am at about 27.5 and I have 4 inches clearance for the headers and scattersheild. Going that low I would be dragging over every small bump there is.

 

I had mine pretty low a few years ago, I liked the look but forget about going anywhere with speedbumps and it would also bottom out on dips in the road and you had to be careful just about anywhere you wanted to go, which got old really fast, I raised it up and will never lower it agaiin

 

Got some time today to set my rear suspension height. I set the rear g on the stiffest setting and the ride at 27 3/4. Did not notice any dragging or bottoming in a short ride. Also the car still rode nicely (not too stiff). I am one hole in from the center on my front suspension. I don't know if the mismatched rates from front to back is an issue. I'll call VBP tomorrow to check it out. I have about 4 1/4 inches of clearance foy my exhaust in the back under the differential.

I'll let you all know if I discover anything else.

Thanks for the input.

Jim

 

24.5 is going to be too low. my front is @ 26" lip / ground and to be honest, large speed bumps are already an issue @ this height especially with the hookers. bear in mind, if you run the car lower, your going to have to raise your driving awareness higher.

 

I think 26.5 to 27 is going to be about right for a car that is driven on all types of roads. Driving around today in my DD I was looking at the roads and they took a little bit of a beating this winter and there are quite a few bad rough spots. I'd rather sacrifice some look for a better ride and not bottoming out.

 

Be aware that lowering the front end with the VB transverse spring will put your lower A arm bumper much closer to the frame. If you don't cut the bumper down, your front suspension travel will be limited and your A arm will be bouncing off the frame before your shock and spring can react.

 

26.5 is the lowest I can go. Keep an eye on your oil pan clearance too. You don't want to put a hole in that.

I wonder if the condition of the body mounts has anything to do with the varying measurements and amount of coil removed. I the body mounts are in poor condition, wouldn't the body and fender lip height be lower?

 

24.2" no probs bottoming out....and im in New York...i wouldnt know about the oil pan for you because i have a 455 in it...

 

i tuck my 20's with 45 series tires...... no problem.... tweeked the camber a bit...... the rear is a bit higher...need to lower that......

i'll get measurement tomorrow

b